Photo: Allison V. Smith

A series of historical markers will commemorate important figures in Bishop College’s history.

Vicki Meek is probably best known locally as the manager of the South Dallas Cultural Center. But she’s also an accomplished artist in her own right. And as such, she’s been chosen by the Nasher Sculpture Center to produce one of the 10 projects that will make up its XChange series this fall.

Meek’s project, Black & Blue, Cultural Oasis in the Hills, will be located on the campus of Paul Quinn College. The location is significant because the school occupies land that used to be home to Bishop College, the historically black school that began life in Marshall before operating in South Dallas from 1961-88. Meek’s project will highlight the role that Bishop College played in Dallas’ cultural and intellectual life.

In a news release, Meek says her plans is, “to reclaim African American history, restore our collective memory and illuminate critical issues affecting the Black community through visual communication.”

Details of how she’ll do it are in the news release after the jump. 

DALLAS, Texas (August 16, 2013) –  The Nasher Sculpture Center is pleased to reveal the plans for a newly commissioned work by artist Vicki Meek that will be located on the campus of Paul Quinn College.  The work is one of ten commissions for the Nasher’s 10th anniversary, city-wide exhibition Nasher XChange, which will be on view October 19, 2013 through February 16, 2014.

Entitled Black & Blue, Cultural Oasis in the Hills, Vicki Meek plans to celebrate Bishop College’s role in the intellectual and cultural life of Dallas through a series of historical markers commemorating important people and moments from the college, and which will also include an interactive web component and video interviews. Bishop College was a historically black college founded in Marshall, Texas in 1881 that moved to southern Dallas in 1961 and closed in 1988. The campus is now occupied by Paul Quinn College.

To develop her project, Vicki Meek is working with former Bishop College faculty and alumni, and members of the Highland Hills and Singing Hills neighborhoods around the school. Bishop College played a significant role in the development of academic and cultural life in Dallas, giving birth to important cultural institutions such as the African American Museum and the Dallas Black Dance Theatre.

She describes the motivation behind her work as a desire, “to reclaim African American history, restore our collective memory and illuminate critical issues affecting the Black community through visual communication.”

Meek, a native of Philadelphia, PA, is a nationally-recognized artist residing in Dallas, Texas. Trained as a sculptor, she has focused on installation art for the past 25 years that asks for direct engagement from the viewer in an effort to foster dialogue on often dif?cult subject matter. Meek’s work is in the permanent collections of the African American Museum in Dallas, The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston and Norwalk Community College in Norwalk, Connecticut. She was awarded three public art commissions with the Dallas Area Rapid Transit Art Program and was co-project artist on the largest public art project in Dallas, the Dallas Convention Center Public Art Project. In addition, Meek is an independent curator and writes cultural criticism for her blog, Art & Racenotes. Meek is currently the Manager of the South Dallas Cultural Center and serves as Chair of the Board of Directors for National Performance Network.